12 Things to Do after Buying a New Laptop or a PC

A new laptop or a PC requires certain vital settings to be done to get optimum performance from it. A new laptop comes with a standard warranty and basic windows OS setup and you must customize it for your personal use. I have not only listed the things you must do but also highlighted the simple how-to DIY tips to get the maximum out of your new computer machine.

1. Register for a warranty

Most of the vendors want you to register new products online on their product site for warranty claims and other offers on the laptop. You need to enter the serial number of the laptop, model number, purchase date, and vendor name. You should also keep the hard copies of the bill or warranty card in a file or folder in a safe place.

2. Remove bloatware

Bloatware is a promotion software that comes bundled with many laptop brands. The bloatware often comes in a windows based system and is not found on Chromebook or MacBooks. The first thing you need to do after purchasing a new laptop is to remove them. You can easily remove them by navigating to the control panel>Programs and Features and now uninstall any suspicious software not required by you from the list of programs.

3. Update Windows

Microsoft windows keep on releasing new updates and security patches for software bugs and malware. You need to be connected to the internet before updating windows. Press “Windows logo” key and “I” key on the keyboard to open windows settings. Now click on Update & Security. Click on Windows Update on the left sidebar, if there are any updates available, it will show in the right sidebar and you can click on Install now to install windows update.                                                                                     

4. Create a Restore Point

This is one of the important things to do after installing all the necessary drivers and applications. Restore point comes to your rescue in case windows gets corrupted or some software drivers are not working. You can easily recover the operating system to the date you have created a restore point. Right-click on This-PC or My-Computer on the Desktop and click properties. Now click on system protection and create a system restore point.

5. Install Anti-Virus software

In this era of cyber-attacks that include malware, spyware, or ransomware threats, you must have robust security software installed on your system. Although windows come with pre-installed windows defender security software, you must install a third-party anti-virus software since it comes with many additional security features like real-time protection, ransomware and spyware protection, and much more.

6. Accidental protection warranty

Along with a laptop, you get a standard one-year warranty for electrical and mechanical failures. But what about accidental falls or liquid spills on laptops? To cover the loss arising due to such losses, many third-party companies offer additional protection from accidental breakdowns.

7. Create an Automatic Backup

You can set up automatic backups on new laptops as this is a great feature to protect your all-important data. You can select the particular drive, folder, or files for a scheduled backup. This is an inbuilt windows OS feature that lets you back up and then restore the data from the hard disk. Navigate to Windows Settings>Update and Security to create a customized backup.

8. Set default programs

Setting default programs to open files is a necessary action after buying a new PC or a laptop. In windows based system, you need to open settings>Default apps. Here, you can set the preferred app to open mails, map, browser, music player, photo viewer, and much more.

9. Power and sleep settings

This is a useful setting and controls the way the laptop consumes the power. You can control the following settings.

• Power button. You can define what happens when you press the power button. The settings you can choose include shut-down, hibernate, sleep, turn-off display, or do nothing.
• Close Lid. Similarly, you can select hibernate, sleep, turn off the display or do nothing when you close the lid of the laptop.
• Turn-off display. Power settings let you choose after how much time of inactivity; the display turns off.
• Sleep-Mode. This option is used to select the time period after which the computer goes into sleep mode. You can configure the settings separately for on-battery or plugged-in mode.

Apart from these customized settings, you have an option to choose from pre-set settings of balanced or power-saver mode.

10. Surge Protection

It all depends on the power conditions at your home or office where you are going to use your computer system. If you are using a PC, you must buy an offline UPS since it not only provides power-backup, it also controls power spikes. Similarly, if in your area, the power is not going to be stable, you must buy a decent power-surge protector for charging a laptop.

11. Buy supporting accessories

Most new users are not comfortable with the touch pad of a laptop. In such a scenario you can buy an external mouse that is comfortable to grip and use. You can also buy headphones to listen to your favorite music. Although not recommended in case you intend to use the laptop on the bed, I would strongly recommend using a laptop cooling pad to dissipate the heat properly.

12. Lamination

Those who are going to use the laptop in rough conditions can go for extra protection on the back of the laptop lids. You can buy vinyl skin covers from a large collection of colorful laptop stickers online.

Final Words

After buying a new laptop or a PC computer, you need not call an IT support engineer to optimize the settings in the operating system. You can follow the simple steps that I have mentioned in this post and hopefully will cover all the vital things you must do in a new windows computer system. If you like the tips, share them with your friends and post your comments here.